One of the foundations of our modern American representative democracy is the public assumption that elected government officials will at least attempt in good faith to be responsive to the wishes of their constituents. We witnessed a praiseworthy example of representative democracy in action just this week, as our Emerald City Council, having been made acutely aware by public furor of its own public policy error, reversed course entirely, decisively corrected a clearly inequitable salary situation, and wisely rescinded Boss Godfrey's punitive public safety officer pay package.
We have no doubt at all that Tuesday night's council policy reversal was at least in part the product of public input, and that the council's corrective vote was the most positive sign of legislative health yet exhibited by our new city council. "The people just want us to do what's right," one council member remarked with a big smile after adjournment of that remarkable council session. Indeed, we believe the Council did just that on Tuesday night. We believe most of them got the same message.
Yet we read this morning's Standard-Examiner editorial, which comes off as remarkably "snarky" in tone. While the Std-Ex editorial writer sets forth a list of plausible issues that the council obviously may have taken into consideration before delivering its unanimous vote, the Std-Ex nevertheless deviates, and concludes with this editorial hogwash:
But back to the question of the City Council's flip-flop regarding the public safety evaluations: Did council members finally believe it was time to halt the ongoing embarrassment of at least one police officer and his wife -- and possibly others involved -- renting a moving van plastered with anti-mayor signs complaining about ticket quotas being parked around town? Either that, or maybe it was an opportunity to pin it all on the mayor, who had advocated for the job-performance ordinance which was nonetheless passed by the council in June."Shifting winds of public comment?" What shifting winds, we ask? It seems to us that the public only became aroused upon learning the true facts. And we have our Emerald City Firefighters and Police officers almost solely to thank for that. The Standard-Examiner deserves virtually NO CREDIT for educating its readership about the true issues here. As far as we're concerned, the Std-Ex has been too busy toeing the Boss Godfrey Party Line, and ridiculing the plainly successful OPBA public-educational campaign.
Yet another theory may be the most believable of all: The Ogden City Council's decisions change with surprising agility according to the shifting winds of public comment.
Except for the noble actions of "Ogden's Finest," the general public would still be mostly in the dark about oppressive ticket quotas, punitive pay-scales -- and of course the Godfrey Cash Cow Connection.
And "pinning it" on the mayor? If the shoe fits; wear it, we say.
We're also going to hammer two additional points here:
The "Blue Flu Epidemic" was not an abdication of public safety responsibilities, as the Standard-Examiner continues to shrilly and monotonously contend. It was merely a legally-conducted public demonstration, intended to shake the citizenry out of its stupor, in our belief. Neighboring police agencies adequately and gracefully filled in and took up the slack willingly, in a very apparent act of solidarity with their brother and sister OPD officers. We have heard from several police officers from neighboring or overlapping jurisdictions that "the shoe might be" sometime "on the other foot." And public safety was NEVER jeopardized during the weekend that the OPD officers staged their sickout. Contrary assertions are simply preposterous, we think.
The Std-Ex editors keep harping on the OPD rolling billboard, as if it were some sort of illegitimate ruse. In this connection we'll note that rolling billboards are a highly efficient and cost effective means of advertising, commonly used across the country. (In this connection we also make special note that Councilman Filiaga used truck-mounted billboards extensively here in Emerald City during at least his first successful council campaign, so this is really nothing new in the Land of Oz.)
We think today's Std-Ex editorial smacks of sour grapes, inasmuch as "Ogden's Finest" managed to skillfully disseminate their message, notwithstanding the efforts of the Standard-Examiner to keep a tight lid on the facts.
And what think our gentle readers about this?
